Audra's Birthday Letter

Happy Birthday, my dear girl,

I can’t even believe you’re four years old.  You’re our youngest!  And you’re four already?  What am I going to with such a so-big girl?!

You delight me, Audra Joy.  You truly bring so much joy into my life, and I am so very thankful for you. 

You are such a sweet girl, and you could spend the whole day sitting beside me (or on my lap, more like, or in my arms) chatting with me about everything under the sun. 

You have such an active imagination, and on a weekly basis, your daddy and I comment on how very much like your big brother Isaac you are- creative, imaginative, in your own world sometimes- chatting and making up stories.  We often have to repeat things several times to you because you don’t really pay attention since you get so involved in whatever you’re playing.  (Thankfully we have lots of practice with this with your big brother, so we’re much more patient with you than we were with him!) 

You LOVE to color.  And you’re very good at it, too.  I love seeing your precious drawings and hearing all about the people or animals you’ve drawn and your stories to go with them.  You’re so creative.

You also recently learned to write your name.  You had been practicing your A’s and we thought that was good.  And then one night you were drawing and I looked over and noticed that to your A you’d added a U... and then a D... and then another A.  You missed the R but as soon as we showed you how, you’ve been happily writing your name-- everywhere, on every single piece of paper-- since.  I love it. 

You have daddy’s sweet tooth- which means that dessert is *always* a good motivator for you to finish your dinner, which you often would rather not do.

You love to play dollhouse and to have buddy time with your older siblings.  Ella, because she’ll always play house or babies or dollhouse with you; Isaac, because he’s a good builder and will build fun Duplo creations with you; and Isaias, because he builds the best forts.

You are such an affectionate girl: always hugging and snuggling and cuddling.  I love it.  :)

You love to sing, and I love to hear you singing.  You often listen to praise music on your quiet times.  And you love Christmas music.  It’s February, and you’re still singing Christmas songs.  :)   I love holding you in church during worship.  Often I’ll whisper, “Do you want to sing, Audra?”  and you’ll nod.  So I’ll whisper the line of the song in your ear right before we sing it, and then you’ll know the words and sing along with everyone else.  I love hearing your sweet little voice singing to God in worship!

You have a sensitive spirit and feel very sad when others are sad, or when you've hurt others.  You can be corrected with just a serious look or a frown- you often dissolve into sorry tears just knowing you've done something wrong.  If you've been disobedient to mama and I point it out, you will sometimes stalk into your room in tears, and then when I go in to talk with you, you will right away tell me you're sorry and crawl into my lap, tearfully confessing and making sure things are right between us.  I'm so thankful for that in you.

You like kitties and babies and playing dollhouse, going for walks and being outside: exploring and crouching down to examine things.  You like going to grandma's house, wearing dresses, and all sorts of pretty shoes.  You went through this layering phase this year when you dressed yourself: you would start with shorts and a tank top, and then add a skirt ("tutu", as you call them), and then put on a couple of dresses on over top of that.  We would laugh because you were so puffy!

You are so articulate, and you have a great vocabulary--  you’re always surprising us with the words you know and the things you say.  But I *especially* love it when I hear you say things incorrectly--because it reminds me that you’re still little, I suppose- and I want to hold onto those moments.  For example, you always say “th” in place of the “f” sound, so when you say family it actually sounds like “thamily”, and when you say flower you say “thlower”.  You also say "pocka does" instead of "polka dots", and I love that.  I ADORE listening to your little self mispronounce things, and I don’t dare let the older kids correct you because I treasure the little girl still in you.

You are so precious to me, Audra Joy!

I am so thankful God gave you to us.  Thank you for being my sweet and cuddly girl.  I pray that you will grow up to love Jesus and that your character will reflect His character more with each year He gives you. 

I love you.

~Your mommy